Warning: One-Third of the World Population Cannot Afford a Healthy Diet
Kat Lay
A new report from five UN agencies finds that 2.69 billion people—one-third of the global population—cannot afford a healthy diet. While global hunger declined for the third consecutive year in 2025, the report warns that “enormous” efforts are needed to meet the 2030 zero-hunger goal.
A new report from five United Nations agencies reveals that one in three people worldwide cannot afford a healthy diet. That amounts to 2.69 billion individuals unable to pay for a diverse diet that meets essential energy and nutritional needs.
The report, titled “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026,” warns that “enormous” efforts are needed to achieve the global goal of eradicating hunger by 2030. Although global hunger declined for the third consecutive year in 2025, affecting 7.8% of the population—down from 8.1% in 2024—there are also signs that the long-running upward trend in Africa is leveling off.
However, the proportion of people unable to afford a healthy diet remains “extremely high,” according to Maximo Torero, chief economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and one of the report’s authors.
The report calculates the cost of a healthy diet at $4.28 per person per day in purchasing power parity (PPP). “The extreme poverty line is $3 per person per day in PPP, so this is significantly higher,” Torero noted.
He emphasized that government policies often subsidize grains and starches rather than meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. “That provides calories, but not a diverse diet,” he said, highlighting the impact on obesity rates and diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the UN agencies contributing to the report, shows that adult obesity has risen from 12.1% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2024. “The situation is extremely urgent,” Torero warned. “Obesity is rising at a very high rate, so we need to work hard to mitigate the risks and hidden costs that this significant increase will bring.”
He called for investment in infrastructure, research, and development. Modeling in the report suggests that more efficient supply chains could reduce costs for meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. New policies aimed at encouraging consumption of fruits and vegetables could also yield benefits, reducing the economic impact of health problems linked to poor diets.
In Africa, 66.6% of the population could not afford a healthy diet in 2025—more than double the rates in Asia or Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa now has the highest number of hungry people for the first time, at about 309 million, surpassing Asia’s 292 million. This increase is largely due to higher population growth on the continent, according to Torero, but the actual proportion of hungry people has begun to decline “for the first time in years.”
The report was jointly produced by FAO, WHO, UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Torero noted that shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz related to conflict in the Middle East are likely to affect next year’s data.
